FUEL TYPE relating to UK deaths from unintentional carbon monoxide poisoning from to

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1 FUEL TYPE relating to UK deaths from unintentional Unknown 3% Gas (portable) 15% Solid 31% Gas (mains) 36% Petrol/Diesel 14% Paraffin 0.4% Oil 1% This chart shows that gas is responsible for the greatest percentage of the deaths included in our data, but our data so far also suggests that, per user, gas causes less deaths from carbon monoxide than solid fuel (since the number of users of solid fuel across the UK is far less than that of gas users). In other words, considering the relatively small number of solid fuel users, there is a high incidence of deaths from solid fuel compared to that of gas.

2 APPLIANCE TYPE relating to UK deaths from unintentional water heater 4% unknown 2% woodburner 1% BBQ 3% camping appliance 1% room heater 18% central heating boiler 27% portable heater (intended outdoor use) 1% portable heater (intended domestic use) 7% other 1% open fire 2% cooker 9% machinery 0.4% grill 3% generator 7% gas fire 8% fridge 1% engine 7% camping appliance includes items other than BBQ s, such as gas lamps and gas or paraffin stoves. central heating boiler includes mains gas, oil and solid fuel systems. Back boiler systems are included in this category. cooker includes hobs, range cookers and permanent stoves (not portable camping stoves). engine is of any type, including from a car, lorry (or other motor vehicle), aeroplane or boat. fridge is of a portable type, powered by Liquid Petroleum Gas cylinder. generator is a portable machine. machinery indicates industrial or commercial machinery, such as a disc cutter. woodburner indicates a permanently installed domestic appliance intended for indoor use. Multi-fuel burners are included in this category.

3 PLACE OF INCIDENT that caused death relating to UK deaths from unintentional carbon monoxide poisoning from to unknown 0.6% tent 2% shed or similar 2% other 1% vehicle 4% workplace 0.9% boat 5% caravan or mobile home 5% commercial premises 4% flat 15% garage 4% house 57% commercial premises includes shops, public houses, hotels, restaurants & guest houses. flat includes bedsits, and both purpose-built flats and those converted from larger dwellings. house includes bungalows, detached, semi-detached and terraced houses. other includes a greenhouse, care homes, public halls and workshops. shed or similar includes metal containers, wood cabins, outhouses and portacabins. vehicle includes all types (other than boat) such as car, lorry, camper van and aeroplane. workplace includes building sites, offices and other work sites. It is easy to see that people at home are most at risk from carbon monoxide poisoning. For an example please see Daily Mirror, 22 June 2015 by Angela Cooke. Dr Ben Croxford's research at UCL (University College London) in 2006 found: 23% of homes had one or more defective gas appliance; 8% of homes were judged to be at risk of dangerous levels of CO; 45% of homes had received no information on the dangers of CO; and A higher prevalence of problem appliances was found in the homes of vulnerable people, such as the young, the old, and those in receipt of benefits. (Taken from HSE press release 2006)

4 TENURE TYPE relating to UK deaths from unintentional Unknown 13% Council 10% Temporary (Hotel, Tent, Holiday etc) 3% Housing Association 3% Other 2% Owned by Employer 1% Private Rented 10% Owner Occupier 58% According to the Communities & Local Government Dwelling Stock Estimates England 2016: There were 23.7 million dwellings in England at 31 March 2016, an increase of 190,000 dwellings (0.81%) on the same point the previous year. Stock_Estimates_2016_England.pdf (Note This is calculated very year). Of these, 14.8 million dwellings were owner occupied dwellings, 4.8 million private rented dwellings and 4.0 million social and affordable rented dwellings (Private Registered Providers 2.4 million, plus Local Authority 1.6 million). In 2016, 33% of all dwellings had a carbon monoxide alarm, up from 28% in Therefore, the incidence of deaths in owner occupied property looks lower than expected, (58% deaths as opposed to expected 62%) although there is quite a high incidence of unknown tenure (13%) which could easily account for this. The incidence of deaths in council owned property looks relatively high (10% deaths would expect 6.9%) while the incidence of deaths in housing associations (3% deaths would expect 10.24%) looks low compared to the percentage of properties owned by housing associations. It would be really helpful to have even more co-operation from Coroners to record the tenure which, of course, the government could require.

5 Number of Deaths MONTH of death relating to UK deaths from unintentional % 16.6% 15.8% % % 7.2% 8.1% % 3.4% 2.5% 4.0% 4.9% 20 0 Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec No. of Deaths It is unsurprising that the colder months of November, December and January contain the highest number of deaths.

6 Number of Victims AGE OF VICTIMS relating to UK deaths from unintentional % % 13.7% 12.9% 13.9% % % % 20 0 Age of Victims 2.7% 0 to to to to to to to to to No. of Fatalities % 0.4% Not known It is interesting to note that those aged make up just over 7% of the population* yet represent around 17% of the total deaths. In our opinion, many more deaths in this age group that may actually be due to CO are probably put down to heart attack or other natural causes (and therefore do not come to our attention and become included in our statistics). This is because there is no automatic test for CO on death, meaning the number of deaths in this age group in particular could be even higher. *Taken from ONS Table P Census: Usual resident population by single year of age and sex, England and Wales. The Gas Safety Trust is funding a pilot to develop a protocol to test all dead bodies for CO in three Coronial areas. It started in early However, not much progress seems to have been made.

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